NOTHING BUT THE GEORGE

  It was Saturday. My favoritist of days. On most wintertime Saturdays I get comfortable in the recliner with my coffee, my hound dog Satchel and a Bugs Bunny cartoon (don’t judge me I love cartoons) but on this day I was told in no uncertain terms to ‘get up off of that thang’ as it was time to go.   Sigh.  My job is to do whatever she tells me to do, and to do it efficiently with great zeal and dispatch.  So, we load the truck and head off to the Gardens at Brookdale, where herself is conducting yet another class—todays lesson— seed starting, is a follow on to her    previous classes on pollinators, composting, early spring planting and yada yada yada, E-I-E-I-O.  I’m not going to say she’s enthusiastic about these classes, I’m not going to say she enjoys this whole gardening gig, but I will say that she attacks this madness as if her hair were on fire. Rather, in an efficient manner with great dispatch and zeal.  She’s a fanatic.  Planting...

Our youngest girl has a great list of friends. Among these are her roomate and ride or die, Cait, who has an upcoming birthday. Cait is a terrific young lady, and hails from Gods country of Hawkinsville, Georgia. Cait is hilarious, and her antics keep us in stitches. She is close with her family, in particular her Grandmother. Anyone who is close with their Grandmother is ok by me. She is also a triplet! I have never met her sisters or any of the rest of her family, but Cait is a credit to all of them. Everyone needs a friend like Cait. Cait writes poems for her friends for their birthday or other significant events, an indicator of her being a special friend to many as well as a testament to her humor and creativity.  On the occasion of her birthday, I have sent her this---we hope she has a great Birthday!   Kate. Kait. Cait .  Cait is great. Her name is Irish— which means ‘pure’—and she’s a pure delight, that’s for sure! Her name is telling, regardless of spelling, it...

From 5 years ago--Thank the Lord my Girl is still out performing me at every measure). I'm thankful that my wife is not having to use the phone to call the kids. The night before Halloween, she had asked me to call the kids. I refused, and told her that we would call the kids later-there were other priorities at the time. I had just returned home from two weeks out of town, and when she picked me up she told me she had been having some chest pains. When we went to bed, she began having chest pains in earnest. So in earnest, and I mean ‘my one eyed granddad taught me how to drive it like I stole it’ earnest, I drove her to the emergency room. The chest pains intensified, and eventually my wife was in tears due to the pain. Through her tears and shortness of breath, she stated that she needed to talk to the kids. “Negative, Ghost Rider”, I replied. “You can call kids later, let's get you fixed first.” You see, my best girl was in the middle of having a heart attack. It would late...

The cooler temperatures remind me of Fall. Not the season, but my recent one. Most folks will find this hard to believe, but on some days, my teenaged brain does not synch with my three-score old body, despite my calcium induced strong bones (I’m a big milk drinker), my youthful personality and good looks. Whereas I used to be 10 feet tall and bulletproof, able to stand up inside a coke bottle I am now barely 5’8”, pee a lot, and am offset by a pear shape body supported on debutante ankles—however, I aint going peacefully. And it came to pass that I had some fluorescent lights to install in the drop ceiling in our basement recently, and after having delayed for some time, I grabbed my ladder, tools, and started my task in earnest. The removal of the old light (2’x 4’) was a bit cumbersome-the drop ceiling is 8 ft while working from the 6 ft ladder, but I was able to swap the old and new with quick dispatch. “Piece of cake”, I said, almost out loud. Here I was, working safely, e...

  What began as a simple request resulted in another adventure. One day a hundred years from now people will come from near and far and for reasons not explained, find themselves in the low country of South Carolina, at a wonderful home called Westervelt...  About a dozen years ago the four of us— by us, I mean Clint, Randy, Steve, and George, high school friends for life, reunited for a long weekend to dust off memories of our not so misspent youth; automobiles, girls, classic rock music played via    turntables or filtered through our cars’ Jensen Coax speakers— when nothing hurt--before bifocals, hearing aids and prostate induced night patrols. When the biggest problem any of us had was where to get the case of longnecks for the weekend trips to the power lines or the banks of the Ocmulgee River.  Our annual get togethers have been wonderful, the food good, and the fellowship providential. Our recent weekend was spent in the glorious low country of South Caro...

  Most everyone knows that I believe Cereal is sacred. By cereal, I mean the good kind, which is really the bad kind. Since I have more years behind me than I do in front of me, I will eat whatever cereal I desire, which means the good, I mean, the bad kind.  I’ve been asked if I considered high fiber, to which I replied not any more than I’ve considered smoking dope or which restroom I’m supposed to use. Narry a  legitimate crusade was ever founded in fiber. So, Imagine how excited I was to see one of my childhood favorites, Alpha-Bits, in the grocery store the other day!  Me and Alpha-Bits go way back to nearly all of my three score years. They had the best prizes, and of course I could spell most any word while enjoying a bowl. Somewhere along the way Alpha-Bits went extinct, and all  I know is I haven’t seen a box in years. I ate many a bowl of Alpha-Bits at my Grandmothers house, which brings back great memories, and so I had what I thought was a reasonable...

My Mother in Law, Rosemary Pratts, enjoyed the Royal family and all it entailed, especially the pomp and circumstance. She knew how each puzzle piece fit and who was next in line, out of line and well aligned. Alignment matters in the house of the Royals— like chickens, there’s a pecking order.  Anyhow, Rose and Shugaluvs had watched the nuptials of both Charles and Diana, Andrew and Fergie, and Diana’s funeral together. They bonded over many things, but this was definitely in the top 10.   It was of no surprise, then, that Shugaluvs was at the television this morning long before reasonable humans awake to observe the festivities… The other event she enjoyed was Derby Day. Not sure that anyone in the family knows why she did, but she did, and she did and she did— and we thank you.  Every year the discussion involved the three races that made up the Triple Crown (The Derby, Preakness and Belmont) and she could tell you about every horse from Seabiscuit to Seattle Slew...